We go behind the scenes on the cover of LWLies 103: The Blink Twice Issue with Leeds-based illustrator Sarah Madden.
Zoë Kravitz’s Blink Twice is a sun-blissed party movie that has freshly mixed cocktails flowing through its bloodstream – until it’s not that at all, and the acrid taste of poison suddenly hits the palette. For issue 104 of LWLies, dedicated to and inspired by Blink Twice, we sought the inimitable skills of Leeds-based illustrator Sarah Madden to take on a portrait of the film’s star, Naomi Ackie, who stars as unwitting food service worker Frida who is suddenly swept off her feet by billionaire tech magnate Slater King (Channing Tatum) and whisked off to his private island in the sun.
LWLies: Paint us a picture of your work space. Do you feel it’s perfect, or do you have plans to enhance it?
Madden: I’m lucky to be able to work from home. My workspace is small, but it fits all of my essentials, plus plants. The best part is the view; my office overlooks the canal, so I get to watch the boats and dog walkers pass by throughout the day. It’s lovely, but it can be a little distracting at times! I’ve recently revamped my workspace, so I am really happy and comfortable with it now. I spend a lot of time there, so it’s important to make it an ergonomic space with the right balance of practicality and cosiness.
What’s the first practical thing you did for this LWLies cover commission?
I always read through the brief again before jumping in. I want to make sure I understand everything and have an accurate sense of what you want from me. This initial stage is mostly research, so I watched the trailer a lot, read the film synopsis, and gathered images of the film (posters, stills etc). I want to get a feel for the film’s art direction and find details I can incorporate into my work, like the recurring red flowers. Since it’s a new film, viewers may not be fully familiar with its visual language. So, it’s important to consider the references they have encountered, incorporate these elements into your work, and introduce something fresh and original.
LWLies covers always contain portraits – what’s your approach for drawing people / likeness?
I gather a lot of reference material to recreate the subject’s face for the piece I’m doing. For this piece, I looked for references of her face at the angle I wanted. I also watched interviews to see how her face moved as she smiled. Once I’m more familiar with the face, I feel more confident to get a likeness. I will tweak a lot as I go thinking, ‘her eyes are rounder than that,’ or ‘her nose should crease more here’. It isn’t always about being technically accurate but capturing unique moments on someone’s face.
What were the challenges of getting Naomi Ackie’s portrait just right?
It can be tough to do a portrait of an actor as their character. You want to ensure that people know what they’re looking at. For example, this is technically a portrait of Frida (Naomi’s character). The main challenge was getting the balance of Naomi and Frida. Naomi looks so different in every film I see her in and of course, she looks completely different as herself in interviews or on the red carpet. I can’t rely on familiar features like her long statement hair here.
For this cover, tell us how you worked with the colours and the layering to achieve such a vibrant effect?
Initially, I thought the colours could be darker to contrast with Naomi’s bright smile and continue the sunny-to-sinister narrative. But as the film is set on a sunny island, we went with brighter colours. I enjoy rich colours and adding moments of contrast in my palettes. The cover shows Frida with a false sense of security. To depict that Frida is unaware or unsure of the threats surrounding her, I use a mix of full-colour and linework when illustrating the snakes. I felt that the yellow was strong enough to grab attention in full-colour and was subtle enough to almost miss in line-work.
Is there someone you’ll show your early drafts to for instant, honest feedback?
I have friends that are designers and illustrators and I will show them work sometimes for feedback or a second opinion. I can get consumed in small details if I’ve been working on one thing for a while, so I find it really helpful to take a step back. I also ask for my partner’s opinion a lot. He’s not in the creative industry but I find his opinion equally important and usually the most eye-opening. I think creatives can get carried away in our technical knowledge and can miss some obvious points.
How do you know when one of your artworks is finished?
I guess it’s never really done. You can tweak and tweak. I sometimes look at work that I did years ago and feel tempted to revisit and ’make better’. I’m a bit of a perfectionist so I have to settle for ‘it’s good enough now’. Also, a client’s deadline is also very helpful for determining when artwork is finished, haha.
How can our readers support you and follow your work?
You can follow me on my Instagram @hello.sola. I also have a newsletter you can sign up for on my website sarahmadden.co.uk. The newsletters are very infrequent, but I’ll try to pop up with something interesting a couple of times a year.
LWLies 104: The Blink Twice issue is available now
Published 23 Aug 2024
Little White Lies was established in 2005 as a bi-monthly print magazine committed to championing great movies and the talented people who make them. Combining cutting-edge design, illustration and journalism, we’ve been described as being “at the vanguard of the independent publishing movement.” Our reviews feature a unique tripartite ranking system that captures the different aspects of the movie-going experience. We believe in Truth & Movies.
